Adhesive transfer tape comprises a strip of adhesive releasably supported on a liner. The adhesive is transferred to a substrate by pressing the tape onto the substrate and removing the liner. The exposed surface of the transferred adhesive is thus readied to bond the substrate to another surface. Various devices have been devised for dispensing an adhesive transfer tape with the liner removed. A manual, hand-held device of this type is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,969,181. That device is a manually activated applicator in which the liner is led around an application roller and then wound on a take-up reel. The application roller is manually rolled over a surface to which the adhesive is to be applied, causing adhesive on the liner passing around the roller to transfer to the surface and simultaneously drive the wind-up mechanism to collect the liner. An automatic device for dispensing an adhesive transfer tape with the liner removed is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,255,218. In this device, the adhesive transfer tape is automatically advanced over an application head. The substrate to which the adhesive is to be transferred is pressed against the tape running across the application head. The movement of the tape over the head advances the substrate as the adhesive is separated from the liner and transferred to the substrate.